Law School is like writing a song

February 26, 2012 at 2:01 pm

I am sure my good friend Mr. Linhart can appreciate this…

As a musician, I am always surprised by what inspires my creativity. There are times when I want to write a song, but can’t do so, either because I lack an instrumental (in which case I have to go through the process of creating one from scratch) or because I have an instrumental but it has yet to speak to me to inform me what to write.

Thus far law school has been very similar in this regard.

I came into law school wanting to use the law to “write a song” that could right wrongs and effect change. I also wanted to use the law to “write a song” that would make my life more secure both professional and financially.

The thing is, those two desires were extremely broad. I didn’t have the foundation to write my song, there was no existing instrumental.

In that respect the first year was the process of taking the raw materials to craft the percussion rhythms and melodies that I needed to help inform the direction that I would take the song, to craft the feeling I hoped to convey.

Like song writing, this can be a frustrating experience. Building the right instrumental can take a long time, and one usually goes through several renditions, before the adequate instrumental begins to take shape.

The second year thus far has been the process of listening to the instrumental over and over again, attempting to figure out what the instrumental is saying to me, how it is informing the topic that will come to dominate the song. The second year has been the journey to write the hook or the chorus of my song, the one thing or the combination of things that I will use to convey my message quickly, and get people to respond.

In that respect the second year for me has brought about a lot of trial and error, there have been multiple ups and downs, and multiple restructuring of the format that I will use to tackle the writing of my career song.

The song has not yet been written but the instrumental has been speaking to me, and the chorus has begun to take shape. My career trajectory is not very dissimilar from what I imagined it would be before I came to law school, but I have definitely sharpened my focus on some things while abandoning others.

I am still unsure about the finished product, but I definitely know which way I am going. I can now imagine the rhyme scheme I will use, the way I will emphasize some words, and the way I will annunciate others.

I am not quite there yet, but I feel like I am beginning to enjoy the process just a little bit more. I can now walk around humming and bobbing my head to the rhythm I have crafted, and zoning out to the possibilities I envision for my song.

I suspect that my third year will be where I really get the lyrics crafted, and begin to envision and practice for the release and performance of my song.

And in that way, the completed song will just be one more addition to the album of my life…still as of now UNTITLED.